Brown v. State

Benham, Justice.

On January 27, 1996, an anonymous informant called 911 and reported that a black male in a purple hat, black leather coat, and blue jeans was dealing drugs from a white automobile in an apartment complex. An officer dispatched to the site in response to the 911 call testified that he saw a man meeting the description standing next to a white car. The officer detained the man, later identified as appellant Fred Brown, based on the description.

A second officer dispatched to the scene found 58 hits of crack cocaine in plain view on the back seat of the white car. Through the…